


Welcome to the Future

by Awendela



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friendship, Nightmares, Post-War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 12:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5540627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awendela/pseuds/Awendela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after the Final Battle the world still has not found peace. Harry Potter, the last hope, now lies in a forgotten bed in St. Mungo's, unable to awaken due to the fact that Voldemort's soul now lives within him. Can two unlikely individuals work together to save him when no others have succeeded?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

A/N: First attempt at a Harry Potter fic! I have been planning to write one for the longest time and I have finally decided on the best one to do. I hope you all like reading it as much as I have liked writing it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing everything will always belong to JK.

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Welcome to the Future  
Prologue

The war was over.

The second great wizarding war against Voldemort was over. Good had triumphed over evil. But was it all worth it? The entire world was affected by the mass casualties and the fighting was still not over. Desperate radical factions still arose every now and again causing widespread panic and fear. The final battle had been won but the war was still far from over.

Many had believed that by ridding the dark side of its infamous leader, Voldemort, it would end the fighting. They could not have been more wrong. The Death Eaters now fought against each other to become the next dark lord; the next to hold the power and carry out their mission. It seemed as if their favored way of gaining support was by attacking any remaining Order locations or what remained of the Ministry. Attacks were daily it seemed like. The death toll rose just as quickly. People lived in a constant state of panic. Resources became extremely hard to find as the days drew on. Daily life had come to a stop as every store and business closed its doors. The wizarding world was brought to its knees.

The Order members and what remained of the Aurors had put up a good fight in the beginning, but it soon became apparent that they could not win with the resources they currently possessed. Many believed that if Harry had survived the final battle unscathed then maybe, just maybe, they would have a chance. A chance at redemption, a chance for the future, a change for hope, but unfortunately this was not the case. Their ultimate savior was still alive but unattainable because now within him, sharing his body, was the ultimate evil, Voldemort. 

Something had gone terribly wrong in those final moments. The spells cast by both wands backfired. Voldemort’s body was destroyed but his soul remained. In a last attempt at survival it fled into Harry’s body and took hold. Over the years numerous attempts had been made to separate the two of them but none had been successful. 

With Harry unavailable the people, good and evil, had turned to the remaining key members of the Order. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Kingsley received death threats regularly. Others wanted them to fix the world while they were still grieving. No one received more threats than Severus Snape.

He had survived Nagini’s attack due to his own precautions and Hermione’s determination. She refused to watch another ally die. She was the only one who came back to save him. She left Ron and Harry to carry on without her. To this day she still cannot explain why, out of everyone injured during the battle, she came back for him. While the actions she took did infact save Snape’s life they made the rest of her life hell. In the aftermath she was blamed for causing Harry’s defeat. If she had been by his side maybe they could have won, maybe they would be living in peace now, but no one could ever truly know what could have happened.

Hermione had gone into hiding not long after the final battle. Not even Ron knew where she was and when he asked the other Order members simply told him she was safe. That was all they could hope for. Most of them didn't even know where she was taken and after a few years of living in a destroyed world, no one cared. She was safe and that was good enough for them; it was better than what most of them had. The world had changed, people looked out for themselves. They did not have the time or the resources to help Ron find her.

Severus Snape had also disappeared. After five months of treatments and wasting away in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Mungo’s he was discharged and told to rest at home. The only problem being that he had no home. He had truly believed he would die during the final battle so there was no point to leave anything behind. By some rare, cosmic event he had been declared a hero by the Ministry, a title he neither wanted nor liked. Most of the population did not agree with this ruling. They believed it was his fault that Potter was not alive. As if the two events had any correlation. He had done his best to prepare the boy and still it had not been good enough. After just a week of being out of the hospital he had come to Kingsley, the new head of the Order, begging to disappear. He needed to go anywhere but here. He needed to fade into the past as he felt there was no place for him in the future.

It was then that a secret plan was formed. A secret plan to bring hope back to the wizarding world.

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Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I hope the have the second one posted soon! Please let me know what you think!

Until next time,  
A


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome to the Future  
A Change in the Winds

Three years had passed since the final battle. 1,095 days since the wizarding world had been changed forever. Hermione Granger stared out the window of her small flat in St. Ives, watching the sun rise over the ocean. She was already running late for work but she could never miss this part of her daily routine. Watching the sunrise had become a habit of hers not long after the final battle. Each day she saw the sunrise reminded her that she was still alive, she still had a future, and that the nightmares that plagued her sleep were not her reality.

When she had been forced into hiding Hermione never expected to be brought to St. Ives. A lovely seaside town in Cornwall. She hardly even knew the Order had a safe house there. It was such an odd location. That was all for the best really because St. Ives was a completely muggle town. By day she worked in a small muggle bookstore owned by a lovely old couple. They had offered her a job two years back after seeing her in their store almost daily. They agreed that someone who loved books as much as she did should be able to be around them all the time. Hermione had been eternally grateful to them. At the time she had been in St. Ives for almost four months and had been unable to find steady employment. The funds Kingsley had sent her would not have lasted much longer.

While working in the bookstore by day was wonderful Hermione did her most important work at night. Even though she was in hiding she was still contributed greatly to the Order’s war efforts. She primarily worked with charms. She routinely recieved requests from Kingsley to update the way the Order members communicated. 

In the beginning it was just a simple Protean charm cast upon ordinary objects such as a keyring, notepad, wristwatch, etc. The same system they used in the DA during their school years. This worked for a while, simple objects were easy to read and easy to conceal. However, they were also easy to steal and easy to corrupt. Within two months of implementing the design the dark side found a way to decode the message and plan attacks during the Order meetings, making sure to cause as much damage and loss of life as possible.

Hermione’s task soon change to discovering new and challenging ways to prevent the corruption of the messages. Much of her work became trial and error methods. The big questions became what charms could be combined to make the message basically indecipherable to all but intended readers and were certain objects better to use than others? The most important task that grew out of this was the need to identify the person on the dark side that kept breaking through their encryptions. All of the new work would be for nothing if they could not find the person responsible. 

Hermione was thankful that the task of tracking the person down was not her job anymore. She had enough of the fighting long ago. In the last few years she had come to love the life she lived. While it was not what she had always dreamed about it was definitely better than the alternative.  
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Severus Snape despised this new life. While it was infact his own idea to go into hiding he loathed it now. Kingsley had sent him to the far northern reaches of England, precisely to a small village known as Coniston in Cumbria. It was a small muggle village in comparison to the busy streets of London, totalling maybe 2,000 people. Kingsley had suggested he try to find a form of employment while residing there. It would help him fit in better with the local community and make the muggles less suspicious of him. No one knew how long the war would continue and he would need to lay low for a while. Snape had promptly laughed in his face. No, he would not be working next to the muggles. He has established an emergency fund in case this exact situation ever arose. It wasn’t much but it would be enough for him to live off of until the end of the war.

Many residents of Coniston knew of him. They simply believed him to be a strange, reclusive man. He came into town for groceries and supplies on a weekly basis, was nice to people be encountered, and made pleasant small conversation. Other than that they did not bother him and he did not bother them.

Like Hermione, Snape did unknown potions work for the Order. All the more reason for the villagers to leave him alone. Merlin forbid one of them accidently stumble up to his house while he was testing a new experiment. His current project was focused on creating a universal potion that could stop, or at least slow down, the effects of the Unforgivables. It was a monumental task and one that he had not yet succeeded at. He had made a lot of progress but the work was still nowhere near operational yet.

Snape had managed to create a potion that, taken in one dose could counteract the effects of the Imperius for two hours. The only problems being that the potion could not be taken while the person was under the Imperius and that it only last two hours. The first was a huge setback. The potion would need to be taken before the individual even went into a fight. It was extremely difficult to make so making a bottle for everyone to have as a precaution was currently not possible. The second problem had more to do with the length of the battles. Usual battles could last all day. Unless the individual was able to disarm the caster quickly they would be found out as soon as the potion wore off.

Snape had been experimenting with the longevity issue the entire night and had encountered no improvement at all, besides a sleepless night which meant no nightmares. He was in a very foul mood when a rather large barn owl flew through his open kitchen window. He never received owls anymore. He didn’t contact anyone from his old life and no one contacted him. Only when the bird started to peck at his fingers did he bother to grab the letter from it. He instantly recognized Kingsley’s seal, as if the day could not get any worse.

Quickly scanning over the words on the parchment Snape felt his mood drop even lower. Kingsley was requesting his presence in London immediately. A small key-shaped portkey was enclosed in the letter. Deciding not to the let man interfere in his life future Snape quickly activated the portkey and was on his way to London.

0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: Third chapter to be up soon! Let me know what you think so far!

Until next time,  
A


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry I took so long to update! I have had a crazy and stressful week. My travel plans got all messed up and I’m still not back home yet, but I couldn’t leave you guys without another chapter! 

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, still own nothing 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Welcome to the Future  
A Deal is Made

Snape arrived in the grand lobby of the Ministry of Magic. People bustle all around, not paying him any attention. This must have been a usual occurrence these days. Traveling by portkey was much safer than walking in the front door. Keeping his head low he made his way to Kingsley’s office. Snape had been there many times before he had gone in hiding and he seriously hoped this would be the last. Snape had no intentions of doing anything for the Minister. He had left this world behind and had no intention of coming back now.  
Snape barged straight into Kingsley’s office, not even bothering with the pleasantries of knocking. The door slammed against the wall startling both occupants inside. Snape had intended to make Kingsley extremely aware of just how displeased he was about being called to London when he noticed the second person in the room. A person who he had not seen in over three years. A person he actually hoped to never see again. A person who had saved him.  
Hermione stared at the man who had just burst into Kingsley’s office. Severus Snape, she had not seen or heard word of him since she had left him at St. Mungo’s. She had been afraid he had died in the years following the Final Battle, obviously that was an unnecessary fear.  
The man now standing in front of her looked relatively unchanged since the time of Final Battle. He now sported a large scar on his neck and a few extra lines and creases around his eyes but that was all. In her opinion he looked much more carefree and less tense than she had ever seen him during her school years.  
“Ah Severus, glad you decided to join us. I was just informing Miss Granger of my fear that you would not.” Kingsley said from behind his enormous wooden desk.  
“Might as well get it over with. The less time spent in London the better.” Snape explained, taking the empty desk chair next to Hermione. He didn’t even acknowledge her presence.  
“Yes, well, unfortunately that may not be the situation any longer.” Kingsley said with a frown. “Over the last two years a team of specialty Order members and Aurors have been working together to try to separate He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named from Mr. Potter --- please let me finish before you interrupt Severus --- while they have not been successful they have discovered a very promising line of experimentation. A single potion is not strong enough to complete the task. The same goes for any sort of charm or incantation, but early experimental stages of a unique combination of potions and charms have proven very successful. It is our hope that with the help of a potions and charms specialist we may just be able to accomplish the impossible.”  
“No.” Snape said simply.  
Both Hermione’s and Kingsley’s eyebrows shot up. “No, what do you mean no?” Kingsley exclaimed.  
“It is fairly self explanatory. You called me here to be this ‘potions specialist’ under the pretense that my former loyalty would oblige me to help. While it is unfortunate that Mr. Potter remains in such a condition I have long fulfilled my debt to his mother and Dumbledore. I left for a reason and I intended to stay gone.” Snape explained as he got up to leave.  
He knew he should have never come here. People always wanted to use him for one thing or another. Would he ever be free to choose what he wanted to do?  
With a deep sigh he got up out of the desk chair and headed for the door. How dare Kingsley do this to him?  
“Please professor Snape.” Hermione said quickly, shocking both men in the room,  
Snape’s hand stilled on the door. He had not expected her to say anything. He had made a point to ignore her very presence in the room. She was the only person in the entire world who he was in debt to, and he hated that.  
“I know you never liked Harry much, and he didn’t give you much reason to, but this isn't about him. This is about everyone, the whole world. If we can succeed wouldn’t it be worth it? I’m not saying we should waste the rest of our lives working on this, but give me, give us, one month. If we haven’t made progress by that time then we will stop. Is that acceptable Minister?” Hermione asked.  
Kingsley frowned. No, it was far from acceptable but he knew Severus would agree to nothing more. “Yes, I believe a one month trial would be perfectly acceptable. What do you say Severus?”  
Snape sighed. Miss Granger had always been logical during school, why had he believed a few years would change that? “One month and not a second more.”  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: So I apologize for this chapter being super short but I wanted to get something out for you guys before I traveled home. The next one will be so much longer, I promise!

Until next time,   
A


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry it has taken me sooo long to update, work and life have been crazy. But even though I didn't update this story I kept writing it in my spare time. I have a bunch of chapters that will be posted soon!

Severus knew he should have said no. He should have never agreed to even a one month trial. Kingsley had been overjoyed when he finally relented and agreed to this crazy plan. The minister had immediately begun prattling on about all the work that had already been done. It wasn't much but he had expected as much. Most of the Order members and Aurors were amateurs at potion making at best. He was surprised no one was injured during their experiments. He would not put it past one or two of them to cause an explosion that put the work back for a week or more. Severus had taught many of them while they attended Hogwarts, their work had not been promising in the slightest.

The list of possible potions Kingsley had given him was extensive. Just by looking at it Snape could eliminate about ten for the fact that they could not be used on a person or that they were completely irrelevant to this case. Who in their right minds created the list? Obviously they were not intelligent at all. Even with the ten potions eliminated that still left about fifteen possible combinations to experiment with and most required a great amount of time and patience to brew. His only consolation prize was the fact that Miss Granger's list of possible spells seemed to be even greater.

Kingsley had given them each a week to look over their respective lists and come to a decision on if the work could even be done. There was no point wasting the precious little money the Ministry had left on something that wasn't going to work no matter how much effort was put into it. The new death eater organization seemed to realize something had changed. The random attacks now all focused on ministry controlled resource centers. The latest one had been the largest supplier of asphodel root, a key ingredient in Draught of the Living Dead.

At the end of the trial week both Hermione and Snape would receive another inconspicuous looking letter containing a portkey to their meeting location. They would not be meeting in the Minister's office next time. The danger of them being seen too many times within the ministry was far too great. It wouldn't take long for even normal people to realize something was going on.

After that they would be meeting in various locations across the United Kingdom. Severus got the feeling that Hermione no longer lived close to London and traveling would be just as taxing on her. He wondered where she did live now. He had heard she went into hiding not long after the final battle. She had been receiving daily death threats because of him. Apparently the greater populace thought she deserved to be punished for saving one more life. Fools.

He once again looked over the list of potions. He could brew the Invigoration potion was well as the Weakness potion with the ingredients remaining in his small home storage cabinet. The rest of the ingredients would need to be purchased from reputable apothecaries. That meant traveling to Knockturn Alley, he loathed this week already.

Hermione could not believe that Kingsley had only given them a week to research the possible outcomes of the experiments. Did he not realize she had another job to do? Sure it was in a muggle bookstore but she loved the job and didn't want to compromise it just because the Minister was an impatient man. The list he had given her contained over 20 spells, how was she ever supposed to research all 20 in seven days? It simply wasn't possible.

She sighed as she fell back into her favorite green armchair with a cup of Earl Grey. This would be a long week and she only hoped Snape would complete his half of the project. She had looked over the reports from the previous experiments and while they did look promising there was still an unbelieveable amount of work for her and Snape to complete. There was no way it could be completed in a month. She only hoped by the end of the month she would be able to convince Snape to stay on for another month.

The process to separate Harry from Voldemort would take more than just one potion and one spell; it would take a long series of different combinations. That would put a considerable amount of strain on their magic. If they did succeed in finding the correct combination they would need to practice for a long while before they were physically able to complete the process on Harry.

Seeing Snape in almost perfect health had come as a shock to her. With the extent of the injuries he had sustained she expected him to have residual long-term damage. She was glad he did not. He deserved so much more than life had given him. While she had been tending to his injuries she had seen beneath his hard exterior.

He cared deeply for the few he considered friends. A perfect example was Lilly Potter. She had thrown away his friendship after one fight and yet he still felt indebted to her for years afterwards. He always treated professors McGonagall and Sprout politely enough to be considered his friends. Hermione knew he was also selfless. As much as he hated to be working on a project for Harry Potter she knew he would see it through to the end. She greatly admired him for that and she could honestly say she was happy to be working with him.

The week flew by for Hermione. Somehow she had managed to learn enough about all 20 spells to come up with a few possible combinations. Sure, she not slept and read while at her job but she had gotten it done. She had even managed to practice a few of the more difficult ones. When Kingsley's letter arrived on Saturday she was ready.

The same could not be said for Snape. He had only managed to brew three potions and when combined together the results were explosive. If he wished to keep brewing he would need to move somewhere more suitable than an two bedroom flat. He did not, under any circumstances, want to do that. He had grown to like the small town he lived in. He could not do much more during the week and when Kingsley's letter finally arrived on Saturday he was more than ready to share a few choice words with the Minister.

 

The next chapter will be up by the weekend! Please R & R!

Until next time,

A


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: First let me say I am SOOOO sorry it has taken me this long to update! It has been a crazy couple of months with work and life but the summer tourist season is basically over and that leaves more time for writing . But there is good news, while I haven't posted in a while I have continued writing so updates will be coming a lot quicker.

Kingsley Shacklebolt paced in this ornate office. In just a few short minutes both Hermione and Severus would be arriving to discuss their progress and decide if this last attempt to save Harry Potter's life was even worth it. Kingsley had no doubt that Hermione would provide some promising results. She always focused all of her effort on the task at hand. Severus was a different matter completely. He was extremely volatile when it came to his craft. If he had not experience success in this last week Kingsley was sure Severus would tell him all about it. In no time at all, Hermione was the first one to arrive. His secretary alerted him of her arrival by an inter-office memo.

"Hello Kingsley" Hermione said as she entered the office and took a seat at one of the desk chairs.

"Miss Granger." He stated. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I assume you've had some success over the last week?'

"Yes, I have several possible theories, but I will need more time to truly test them out as well as collaborating with Professor Snape for proof that they work." She explained.

Kingsley was silently glad that she has such success. At least one half of the equation was working. He could only hope that Severus would say the same thing. "That's excellent. I doubt we will have to wait long for Severus to arrive to tell us about his progress."

As if on cue the Minister's officer door slammed open and Severus Snape barged in with Kingsley's small secretary following in his wake. "Sorry Minister, I tried to stop him, telling him you were in another meeting but he wouldn't listen!" She exclaimed breathlessly.

"No need to fret Leslie. It's alright." Kingsley said trying to calm down the frazzled secretary. "Cancel and hold all my meetings for the morning. I have a feeling this may take a while." He said as the secretary nodded and left the room.

"So Severus I would ask how your trial week went but judging by your entrance I think we can all guess how it went." Kingsley stated taking a seat behind his desk.

Snape glared at the Minister. "Well Minister, I would hope that you remember your time at Hogwarts and realize that a week is hardly enough time to correctly brew the complex potions you listed. I was able to eliminate ten of the potions right away and was also able to brew an additional three, but none were of great success."

The Minister actually smiled. "I would hardly consider that a failure Severus, you did more in that week than my staff could in many months. Eliminating potions just means we are closer to find the correct one than before."

Snape scoffed. He did not consider that positive progress. "It still does not matter. I will not be able to brew the more complex potions in the small lab I constructed in my cottage. It is far too small to contain any explosion that may occur. I would have to conclude that although it does seem promising, this trial is over before it starts."

Hermione couldn't help but feel crushed. She knew Snape was only being logical but it still hurt to hear. She would have done anything in her power to help Harry but she knew she could not do it alone. She figured it was back to the bookshop and quiet life in St. Ives.

Kingsley smiled though, almost as if he had anticipated this problem arising. "Well Severus I believe that this problem can be easily remedied. I foresaw this being a problem for both you and Hermione. The order has a safe house located in Oxfordshire that is big enough for you to both work on your craft. It is an old manor that was left to a dear friend of mine. He gave it to me after his passing in cases of emergency. It is well hidden from both magical and muggle eyes. The manor has been ready to move in since the beginning."

"What!" Hermione exclaimed. "I am not relocating Kingsley! I have a second life already established in St. Ives. I have a job and people who will notice if I suddenly dissapeared and I do not feel comfortable simply obliviating them, they've done nothing wrong!"

Snape was surprised by Miss Granger's outburst but couldn't help but admire her for it. He expected her to simply go along with whatever Kingsley said. Maybe the girl had grown up a little over the last three years. "I agree with Miss Granger. I have become quite accustomed to my cottage in Coniston and even though I do not frequent the town often people would surely notice if I was to just disappear one day."

"Yes, well it wouldn't be forever." Kingsley explained trying to turn the conversation back around. "It is only for the month that you both with be working on the project. One month, maybe two, at the most. Hermione I am sure that the lovely old couple who run the bookshop will allow you to take a month off for a family emergency. Severus you can do the same, simply drop hints about going away for a while for business. It is not forever, just for one month. Do you think you two could do that for Harry and our world?"

Hermione looked down, ashamed. How could she have forgotten the whole reason she was living in St. Ives? She should be trying to do whatever she could to do get back to her old life, but she couldn't deny that she had grown to love living in St. Ives and the drama free world she lived in. Kingsley was right, they both owed it to Harry to at least try.

"Alright Kingsley, one month. I believe we can both do that, but afterwards we go back to our lives and you do not bother us with this again." Severus said, looking at Miss Granger, hoping she agreed with him. She merely nodded at his statement.

"Agreed. I will send you each a portkey within the next week to the location of the manor. I will make sure the manor is full stocked with anything you need. It comes complete with a lab and multiple open rooms for charms work. It is the perfect location for the trial. I wish you both luck and will be following up each week as to your progress." Kingsley said as the pair left his office. Neither of them responded, they were both wondering how they would survive this month living together and hoped that they would have something to show at the end or it would all be a waste of time.


End file.
